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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. staff — a stick
  5. land — to come down
  6. game — wild animals
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. staff — employees
  9. land — ground
  10. ground — the earth
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. clip — to cut
  13. vault — a safe
  14. clip — a video
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. capital — a city
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. capital — money
  21. ground — a position
  22. clip — for paper
  23. staff — employees
  24. game — a match

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com